Psittacine Beak & Feather Disease (PBFD, Parrot circovirus)
- MBVC
- Jun 18
- 3 min read
Psittacine Beak and Feather Disease (PBFD) is a very serious infection which can affect many species of parrots. PBFD is cause by a virus which affects feather growth, the immune system and the gut. In most cases, the disease is fatal and there is no treatment. Clinical signs of this disease vary according to the species and age of the bird affected.
Clinical Signs
Signs include feather deformities, abnormal feather colour, diarrhoea, death in young birds and immunosuppression leading to secondary infections and death. In acute cases, birds can die from diarrhoea prior to showing any feather changes. Species typical feather changes include:
Cockatoos - typical feather changes seen include reduced powder, deformed feathers, pinching of feather shafts and loss of feathers. This generally starts with facial and crest feathers as well as down feathers over the hips. As the disease progresses all feathers may be affected.
Lorikeets, lovebirds and budgerigars - the typical feather changes seen are a lack of flight and tail feathers. Affected bird of these species are often referred to as “runners”. Recovery from the disease is possible in theses species, depending on how advanced they are.
Eclectus Parrots – abnormally coloured feathers, dark and dull feathering, dystrophic down feathers over hips.
New Birds
We recommend that bird be purchases only from reputable sources and we have a number of rescues we could recommend, depending on the bird you are after. We also recommend that all new birds have a health check within 7 days of purchase, this allows us to make sure your bird is healthy and we may recommend testing for common contagious diseases such as this. Additionally, any new bird should be quarantined from other birds for the first 2 -6 weeks to reduce the chance of spreading disease.
Testing
The most common method to confirm PBFD is through a PCR test which requires a single drop of blood, and results take 1-2 weeks. If the test returns positive then we may recommend a HI/HA test which screens for immune response, and whether the bird will recover from the virus. It is always best to confirm with a test rather then just clinical symptoms.
Preventing Spread
This is a very contagious disease which is easily spread to other birds. The virus is shed in the birds feathers and droppings and can survive in the environment for over a year. We recommend a very thorough scrub and cleaning of the cage and toys initially to remove any visible droppings, feathers and dirt. Any wooden items such as perches and toys should be discarded. Other toys can be soaked in F10 disinfectant for a minimum of 30 minutes. The cage and any area where the bird had been should be sprayed with F10 disinfectant at the same concentration and allowed to soak on at least 5 occasions. Because of the difficulty in disinfecting the whole environment, we recommend having at least a 6 month break before introducing a new bird.
Wildlife
It is important to avoid feeding wildlife as shared food areas increases the chance of spreading PBFD. If you find a bird with suspect PBFD, you can carefully picked them up with a towel and transport them to the clinic for assessment. If you cannot transport the bird, call Wildlife Victoria or another wildlife organisation for assistance.
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